Author : Patricia Nordman
"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness" (John 3:17,18).I am naïve enough to believe that the peacemakers will indeed inherit the earth. Those in the world and of the world have already inherited the world. God bless them and help them.Of course here we are again with that crazy word "submission." It's pretty much a given that in a quarrel someone has to give in, but we are of the enlightened generation that insists on our right to insult and denigrate, no matter how small the injury. What a shame!Years ago a dear friend gave me very wise advice. She suggested that I visually imagine Jesus standing between the person who is peeling off my ego and myself. He is standing there between us to accept the verbal blows, and to forgive us both, for I try to remember my own part. I, too, have contributed to this problem. I have also learned to look upon this person as my personal pearl, given in love by my Father who knows what I need. Pearls are made through irritation!I would like to share some quotes and Bible verses that have helped me enormously in the journey toward being a kinder, gentler person:QUOTES:*Whatever be the motive of insult, it is always best to overlook it; for folly scarcely can deserve resentment, and malice is punished by neglect. Johnson.*Slight small injuries, and they'll become none at all. Fuller.*Lay silently the injuries you receive upon the altar of oblivion. Hosea Ballou.*If men wound you with injuries, meet them with patience; hasty words rankle the wound, soft language dresses it, forgiveness cures it, and oblivion takes away the scar. It is more noble by silence to avoid an injury than by argument to overcome it. J. Beaumont.*One [person] pins me to the wall, while with another I walk among the stars. Emerson.*Be prudent, and if you hear...some insult or threat...have the appearance of not hearing it. George Sand.*That which cannot be repaired is not to be regretted. Johnson.*They are the strong ones of the earth, the mighty food for good or evil,--those who know how to keep silence when it is a pain and a grief to them; those who give time to their own souls to wax strong against temptation, or to the powers of wrath to stamp upon them their withering passage. Emerson.*The surest method against scandal is to live it down by perseverance in well-doing, and by prayer to God that He would cure the distempered mind of those who traduce and injure us. Boerhaave.*The secret of language is the secret of sympathy, and its full charm is possible only to the gentle. Ruskin.*But hushed be every thought that springs/From out the bitterness of things. Wordsworth.*A fool's heart is in his tongue; but a wise man's tongue is in his heart. Quarles.*Troubles, like babies, grow larger by nursing. Lady Holland.*Valor consists in the power of self-recovery. Emerson.*The greater your real strength and power, the quieter it will be exercised. Lowell.*There is no truth which personal vice will not distort. J.G. Holland.*Speak to living ears as you will wish you had spoken they are dead. Anonmous*Great minds, like heaven, are pleased in doing good, though the ungrateful subjects of their favors are barren in return. Rowe.*It is another's fault if he be ungrateful, but is mine if I do not give. To find one thankful man I will oblige a great many that are not so. Seneca.*The human heart, at whatever age, opens only to the heart that opens in return. Miss Edgeworth.*If there is any person to whom you feel a dislike, that is the person of whom you ought never to speak. Richard Cecil.*Jesus washing the feet of Judas is not concerned with claims and equities.*Ingratitude dries up the fountain of all goodness. Richelieu.*Flints may be melted--we can see it daily--but an ungrateful heart cannot; no, not by the strongest and the noblest flame. South.*Ingratitude is a nail which, driven into a tree of courtesy, causes it to wither... Basil.*The roots of the deepest love die in the heart, if not tenderly cherished. Herder.*A great mind will neither give an affront nor bear it. Henry Home.*Patience and gentleness is power. Leigh Hunt.*Little by little, the bitterest feelings are sweetened by the mention of them in prayer. And agony itself stops swelling, if we can only cry sincerely, "My God, my God!" Wm. Mountford.*How many a knot of mystery and misunderstanding would be untied by one word spoken in simple and confiding truth of heart! How many a solitary place would be made glad if love were there, and how many a dark dwelling would be filled with light! Dewey.*Why is it that a blessing only when it is lost cuts as deep into the heart as a sharp diamond? Why must we first weep before we can love so deeply that our hearts ache? Richter.*Religion is the hospital of the souls that the world has wounded. J. Petit-Senn.BIBLE VERSES:"...Love covers over all wrongs" (TLB: "Hatred stirs old quarrels, but love overlooks insults)" (Proverbs 10:12)."All those who see Me ridicule Me" (Psalm 22:7)."Do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their insults" (Isaiah 51:7b)."Those who passed by hurled insults at [Jesus]...The robbers...also heaped insults on him" (Matthew 27:39,44, Mark 15:29:32)."Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return..." (John 9:28)."[Jesus] did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even."(1 Peter 2:23 NLT)"A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult" (Proverbs 12:16)."Don't repay evil for evil. Don't snap back at those who say unkind things about you. Instead, pray for God's help for them, for we are to be kind to others, and God will bless us for it" (1 Peter 3:9)."He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends" (Proverbs 17:9). (TLB: "Love forgets mistakes; nagging about them parts the best of friends.")Grace for our thorn: "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, `My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2Corinthians 12:8,9)."Sensible men are reticent." (Proverbs10:14 Moffatt)."Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake" (Matthew 5:11, 1 Peter 4:14).Especially, "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." It is possible that the person has no idea of how much his/her actions grieve us.I close with this gem: "Therefore, come what may, hold fast to love. Though [others] should rend your heart, let them not embitter or harden it. We win by tenderness, we conquer by forgiveness. O, strive to enter into something of that large, celestial charity which is meek, enduring, unretaliating, and which even the overbearing world cannot withstand forever. Learn the new commandment of the Son of God. Not only to love merely, but to love as He loved. Go forth in this spirit to your life duties; go forth, children of the Cross, to carry everything before you, and win victories for God by the conquering power of a love like His" (F.W. Robertson).
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